ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday morning gave guidelines for holding negotiations to the four-member committee formed to facilitate talks with Taliban militants, DawnNews reported.
The first meeting of the committee, chaired by the prime minister, discussed in detail the framework and strategy for the talks.
The committee comprises of the premier's Advisor on National Affairs Irfan Siddique, veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador and expert on Afghanistan affairs Rustam Shah Mohmand and former ISI official Major (Retd) Amir Shah and is being assisted by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
The meeting also touched upon topics in the committee's mandate and rules of negotiations with militants, which would be discussed in detail during the next meeting.
However, in today's meeting which was also attended by Chaudhry Nisar, Prime Minister Sharif issued guidelines to the committee and defined its jurisdiction.
The committee members would now decide the leading rules of engagement among themselves.
Premier Sharif had only one precondition for talks, which he had explained in the National Assembly on Wednesday that there should be no terrorist attacks during negotiations.